Secrets In The Silence
by Semisonic
Summary: Kelly Jones isn't used to making bad decisions. So when she finds herself in bed with a certain dodgy dealer, she shouldn't really have been surprised to find that everything else is going wrong as well. Flash/Kel.
1. Chapter 1

The music was loud enough to grate in the back of my throat, and I couldn't help but be glad for it. It was just what I needed to wind down from the events of the last few weeks. For once I could be any member of St. Trinians, not the Head Girl that everyone looked to for solutions to every problem they encountered. It was not often I got to pass up responsibility.

Annabelle half ran, half staggered past me thrusting a bottle of wine into one of my hands and catching hold of the other, dragging me up on stage with her. I allowed her to manhandle me and did not resist when she threw her arm around me and drew me into her drunken dance. I caught her eye and realised that my lips were curling around the same lyrics as hers and grinned, not even caring for once, that my lipstick might be smudging. Taylor appeared at my other elbow and I wrapped my other arm around her too, my singing perhaps verging on shouting although it was hard to tell above the blare of the bass. I scanned the crowd as best I could despite the blinding lights in my eyes. It was a scene of St. Trinians bliss. Everyone united in the single goal of having fun. If I could have everyone like this all the time, I would consider myself to be doing a good job as Head Girl.

The smile faded from my lips as I caught sight of someone who was definitely _not _part of my idea of bliss.

"Flash Harry...," I murmured, my words not standing a chance against the wall of sound they were confronted with on leaving my mouth. As if I had shouted his name, his eye line rose and we made eye contact for one long second. Time seemed to freeze for a second whilst I tried to arrange my features into a suitable expression of irritation, and then he had broken eye contact and slipped away into the crowd again.

Rolling my eyes, I slipped free of Bell and Taylor's grasp and made my way swiftly towards the doorway, trying to look nonchalant. I wasn't exactly inconspicuous. I knew exactly where Flash would be headed. We'd been dealing in secret on the roof long before I trusted him enough to introduce to the rest of the girls. Why was he here? He knows better than to try and sneak around without me noticing.

I stormed up the stairs towards the roof, the corridors deserted apart from the occasional sleeping girl lining the floor. At each one I stopped and checked for breathing before moving on. What? So I'm ice queen Head Girl. Doesn't mean I can't have a maternal instinct now and again. I got to the last set of stairs and tripped, catching myself against the wall, careful not to upset the wine, which was now half empty. I looked around hastily, praying there was no one about to see the Head Girl anything less than in full control of her faculties, and breathed a sigh of relief when the only person in sight was an unconscious Fourth Year with a bottle of the Twin's vodka in her hand. I had learnt long ago that the only way to see the end of a night was to avoid that vodka like the plague, and for years now I'd been filling the empty bottles with regular vodka in order not to offend the Twins.

I bent down and fumbled under the rug for the key at the foot of the stairs where it was always kept, and sighed when it was not there. I should have known. The door at the top of the stairs, normally locked, gave when I turned the handle and then I stepped out of the warm if slightly cloying air of St. Trinians into the cold night.

"Alright, Kel," his gruff voice floated across to me, and I walked across to him, desperately trying to not sway as I went. I sat down on the ledge next to him, uncomfortably close, I realised, as he cleared his throat and shuffled backwards a bit.

"Flash," I greeted him, lifting the wine to my lips and taking another swallow. He fumbled in his pocket for his cigs and a lighter.

"Want one?" he asked, and I paused before nodding. It was one of our little secrets that I smoked, but only with him and never in front of the girls. I figured if any of them wanted to find smoking, they'd find it anyway without any influence of mine. We both lit up in silence and smoked in peace for a while. My head was spinning slightly and the smoke was dizzying.

"What are you doing here, Flash?" I asked after a while, my voice coming out as patronising. I winced. I hadn't been aiming for patronising.

"'M just checking up on you and the girls, Kel," he replied softly, humbly. "I like ter make sure you're all alright, y'know?" At my incredulous glance, he continued. "An' I thought, with, y'know, all our 'business' being over...you might wanna try a bit of pleasure for once."

"Flash-," I began, but he cut across me.

"I know, Kel, I know. I'm not yer type. I mean-God, I don't reckon there's anyone on this Earth that's good enough to be your type-I mean, not that I'm sayin' you're aloof or anythin', just-Kel, I'm no good at this."

I allowed myself a small smile. Not a smirk, a smile. He noticed the difference too, and smiled as well, in spite of himself. I threw my cigarette down and turned to face him, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I knew what I was going to do, and already the sober Kelly in the back of my mind was screaming at me not to do it, but the drunken Kelly had overridden her and was laughing manically. I leant towards him, smelling his smell that was more comforting than anything else in the world.

"Flash, I-," And for once it wasn't him struggling for words. "I really like you," I said eventually, somewhat inadequately, I felt.

"Kel, you're drunk," he said, backing away, "In the morning you won't remember this ever happened."

"Harry," I said, and his mouth fell open. _I should try that more often, _I thought, and then there wasn't any more time for thoughts as my mouth was upon his and we were kissing. He tasted of smoke and mint, and as I pushed deeper into his mouth, he put a hand to the back of my neck, entangling his fingers in my hair. I moaned into his lips as his teeth grazed my bottom lip, edging my body closer to his until I could feel the heat coming off him. He pulled back, breathing heavily and I tried to clear my head. It was hard with his scent clouding my judgement. My foot kicked at something glass which fell over and shattered, and I looked down to see the remains of a bottle of rum leaking away over the stone roof.

I flicked my gaze back to him and he looked sheepish.

"Well I needed summit to give me some Dutch Courage, din't I?" he offered, smiling. Smiling back I tipped my head back, pouring the remains of the wine down my throat and throwing the bottle down with the other one.

"So Flash Harry," I said to him, standing up and taking hold of his hands, "Would you do me the honour of carrying on that kiss in my bedroom?" He stood up, running a hand down my cheek.

"You have no idea how many times I've wanted to smudge your lipstick like that," he told me and I pressed myself to him again, joining our lips and melting into him. We stumbled down to my bedroom and as I fumbled for the lock his hands were running up the backs of my stockings. Because it was a party, I had traded my pencil skirt for a shorter, tighter high-waisted skirt and my stockings finished a good two inches before it began.

We burst into my bedroom still kissing, and collapsed onto my double bed entangled with each other.

"I-have wanted to do this-for so long," I breathed into his neck as he undid my shirt and I felt him grin against my collar bone.  
"Tell me about it," he replied, his breath tickling my bare skin.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning I was awoken by a frantic banging on my door. I rolled over and groaned into my pillow, stretching out my arm to find my clock. I almost jumped when I came into contact with Flash's bare chest, and then the events of last night came flooding back. I smiled. The thought of it almost made my headache go away. Almost.

"Kel! Get up! Kel!"

That was one of the twins shouting, as the banging on my door became more incessant. Flash stirred now, rolling over to face me with a grin on his face.

"How's your head, sweetheart?" He asked me, and I swore good-naturedly at him in reply. "And who the hell is banging on your door like that, Kel?"

"It's one of the Twins," I replied irritably. "You're going to have to get in my en-suite. They can't know this has happened. Please understand."

He nodded once and wrapping himself in the duvet, half walked half rolled into my bathroom. I heard him collapse into my bath with a sigh, and smiled, despite my throbbing head and the thought of what crisis had occurred.

Taking a quick glance in the mirror I combed my fingers through my hair and used a make-up wipe to remove all traces of my smudged lipstick. Aware I was only wearing my stockings, I hastily removed them and pulled on a pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt. I almost looked like I'd spent the night alone. Almost.

"Yes girls?" I asked, answering the door eventually, and they both sank down to the floor in relief.

"Kel, you have to come," Tania cried plaintively, "Andrea's been taken to hospital!"

My heart plummeted, and an icy feeling came over me. "What? Why, girls?" Without waiting for an answer, I started down the corridor with them trailing after me.

"She was seen wandering round the village and she fell in the lake and she was in there for an hour and someone found her this morning and she's not conscious," Tara babbled at me, and I broke into a run. Shit.

As I entered the common room, Belle and Taylor grabbed hold of me.

"The taxi's waiting," Belle said in my ear as they spun me round and walked me back out the way I'd just come.

"I can't go like this!" I hissed at them as we almost ran down the corridors to the main entrance.

"It's okay, we'll swap clothes," Belle replied without missing a beat, "You need to go in more than I do."

Taylor was looking at me suspiciously.

"'Ere, who were you with last night, Kel?" she asked me as we flew out of the main entrance. I winced at the gravel dug into my bare feet.

"What do you mean, Taylor?" I asked, trying to sound offended that she could suggest such a thing as we piled into the back of the taxi. Miss Fritton was sat in the front, and turned to wink at me before bidding the driver to go.

"I mean, you look like you've been with someone, Kel. Who was he?"

"I was alone last night, Taylor," I replied coldly, in a tone of voice that I hoped made it clear I was unwilling to discuss the matter any further. But guilt formed an icy pit in my stomach as I wriggled into Annabelle's stockings and short dress, and I couldn't meet either of them in the eye.

"Lipstick, Kelly?" Miss Fritton asked, tossing it back to me. I caught it left handed and leaned over so I could see to apply it in the rear view. It wasn't the shade I normally wore; somewhat duller and darker, but it would have to do.

"Has anyone heard on how she is?" I asked, going all business as I forced myself to stop panicking and focus on the task at hand.

"I just got a phone call at dawn telling me that the local hospital has her, and she was in a pretty bad state," Miss Fritton answered me. _How did this happen? _ I wondered to myself and didn't realise I had spoken out loud until Taylor answered me.

"We don't know, Kel."

Luckily, she didn't know that it wasn't her I had been asking. When we got to the hospital, Miss Fritton, Taylor and I piled out of the taxi. I shouted a hasty thanks to Bell for the clothes and tried to compose myself as we entered through the automatic doors. I had forgotten about my headache in shock when I'd found out about Andrea, but it returned with its full force now. My stomach churned in protest at it and I set my lips, determined to do my best by Andrea no matter how awful I felt. _Surely they must be hung over too? _I thought, looking at Miss Fritton and Taylor either side of me. Taylor was wearing as much make up as ever and not one hair was out of place. Miss Fritton looked similarly composed. Damn them.

"We're here to see Andrea ...," I announced as we reached the front desk, putting on my best authoritative tone. The girl behind the desk looked up at us with an expression of terror on her face. She can't have been much older than me, and let out a noise that sounded very much like a squeak.

"I-I'm afraid it's not visiting hours," she stuttered quietly, and Miss Fritton laid her hand bag on the desk, very menacingly.

I raised an eyebrow at the girl and I saw her eyes flick to the colours on the ties that me and Taylor were wearing and back up to meet mine. I raised an eyebrow, excruciatingly slowly, praying that this was going to work.

"B-but as it's evidently such an emergency I'm s-sure we can work something out," she murmured, typing frantically into her computer. I kept the same look on my face, not daring to change my expression in case my relief showed through.

"She's in, er, Ward 47...second floor, third door on the right. Y-you can go up t-the stairs to your right," the girl spat out, making brief eye contact with me again before practically hiding behind her computer screen. I turned the corners of my lips up ever-so-slightly at her before turning on my heel, trying to concentrate on what she'd said. I was being interrupted in this task by the thoughts of Flash, asleep in my bath tub at home. Thinking about Flash made me feel even worse. _Why do you feel __guilty__ Kel? _With an iron will, I pushed thoughts about him to the back of my mind, to be dealt with once I'd dealt with Andrea.

"Andrea," I murmured as we reached her bedside, running a hand across her forehead. She was barely recognisable. Her face had been scrubbed of the usual dark make up she applied and if she was normally pale; her skin was now almost translucent.

"Oh, she has visitors!" A small, round woman came bustling over to Andrea's bed, eyeing us suspiciously. "You are aware that it is not visiting hours, I presume?"

"We're aware," Miss Fritton replied in a tone of voice that begged no arguments. To emphasise the point, I sat down in the chair next to Andrea's bed, crossing one leg over the other. Annabelle's skirt was uncomfortably short.

"Yes, well," the nurse pursed her lips at us. "I want no noise, is that understood? What this girl needs is quiet and rest and I know full well that 'quiet' is not what you girls do best." She eyed me pointedly and I tried not to squirm. Last time I'd met her, I'd been with a scorched Polly who had managed to burn her eyelashes off during a science experiment. "This girl has been through a lot in the last few hours, and it is important that her environment is conducive to recuperation!"

I nodded in what I hoped was a sincere and understanding way, and caught Taylor attempting to do the same out of the corner of my eye. Our efforts were met with an irritated nod.

"You've got twenty minutes, girls, Camilla."

*

Five hours later, we left the hospital, the stern nurse having reached the end of her patience with us. Andrea had still not awoken. The taxi ride back was silent, Taylor sitting with her head in her hands, and Camilla chewing her lip determinedly. My head still pounded and I needed a shower, but these were the least of my thoughts. I was trying to work out a reasonably optimistic slant to put on the situation to tell the rest of the girls, as I had no doubt they would be waiting for our return. It was something akin to dread I was feeling as the taxi pulled up the gravel driveway of St. Trinians.

"You need to speak to them, girlie," Miss Fritton told me unnecessarily as we entered through the large main entrance and I shot her a sidelong glance.

"Although maybe you should go get changed, first," she suggested, taking in my somewhat dishevelled appearance. I considered that for a second, and then thoughts of Flash sleeping in my bath returned to me and I knew I couldn't go back to my room until I'd fully sorted out Andrea.

"No, I'll go talk to the girls first," I replied, steeling myself and striding past her. Taylor followed me up to the common room where the usual chaos resided. I took a glance around the room however, and there was Annabelle in the corner with a small group of girls, looking rather subdued, and the remainder of the Emos sat together in silence.

I raised my hand to my lips to whistle the girls to silence, but as soon as they caught sight of me in the doorway they fell quiet with no need for me to call. Suddenly, every single face in the room was turned towards me attentively without any attempt at all. I raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Girls," I started, walking to the sofa and flopping down on it, crossing my legs. "Andrea is still unconscious." A quiet ripple of shock went through the room. "We stayed as long as we could, but eventually got kicked out. She has severe pneumonia and her brain almost shut down from the cold she suffered. She _is _going to be alright however, it's just a case of _when _she wakes up, so girls, please do not worry too much." I eyed the First Years pointedly and allowed them a small smile. "I will be visiting again tomorrow, and for however long it takes. If you wish to come with me to visit, talk to me at dinner tonight."

I looked around, gauging the general mood of the room. They couldn't take the lecture on being careful when drunk, I thought, not now.

"Is everyone ok?" I asked after a pause, allowing some sympathy to enter my voice. There was a moment of silence. Tara was the first one to come forward for a hug, climbing up onto my knee, and then the rest of the First Years followed, clinging onto my arms and legs. I had tried to train them out of this habit, but I didn't have the heart to shake them off at this moment.

_Flash is gonna have to wait, _I thought resignedly, wondering briefly if he was still in my room. Right now I had the girls to look out for, and they needed me more than he did. I caught Taylor's eye across the room and she shot me a pointed look, and I wondered how she knew what I had been thinking. I resolved to be more careful around Taylor, and relaxed into the sofa, gently stroking Tara's hair as she clung to me.

_Yes. The girls need me more than Flash does. _


	3. Chapter 3

I was not surprised, on returning to my room, to find it empty. I was surprised, however, to find my bed made and my carelessly discarded clothes from last night folded up neatly on the chair under my desk.

It made me stop and smile until I remembered that Andrea was in hospital because I hadn't been around to keep an eye on her. _Just one night, _I thought, _one night of not paying attention, and look what happens. _

I quickly showered and dressed, making a mental note to wash Annabelle's clothes before I returned them, and smoked a hasty cigarette out of the window. Darkness was now falling and I thought it unlikely that any of the girls would be outside to see their Head Girl breaking a rule they never thought she would.

My thoughts fell to Flash again, and the sense of guilt I'd felt earlier returned more strongly. Why did Flash keep appearing in my thoughts as something more than a friend with benefits? Surely what we'd had last night was limited to that one night? Something inside me didn't agree, but I repressed it as hard as I could. So I slept with Flash. That didn't mean I was sleep_ing _with Flash. And it definitely didn't mean there was anything more than sex between us.

A knock at my door interrupted my train of thought and I stubbed my cigarette out on the outside window sill, dropping it to the cold ground outside before shutting the window and shouting for the knocker to come in. It was a resilient Polly, determined to soldier on throughout the crisis that had sent the rest of the school into a state of flux.

"I've brought you some coffee, Kel," she said as she entered, handing me the steaming mug of black liquid.

"Pol, you're amazing," I replied as she sat down on my bed, crossing her legs underneath her and balancing her laptop on her lap. I took a seat opposite her, crossing my legs as well so we were a mirror image, ready to thrash out the finances with her.

"We need to know if Flash has got that new buyer for the vodka," Polly commented as I tried to force my tired brain to keep up with the maths she kept throwing me. "I can't really form a proper figure for this month's income until then."

"Well, did he say when he was next dropping in?" I asked innocently, secretly ashamed of myself for resorting to tactics like these over some _boy._

"No actually," Polly replied obliviously. "No one saw him much at the party last night."

I gave a nonchalant shrug. "He must have gone home early," I replied casually.

"Yeah, once he realised you'd gone to bed he probably saw no point in staying," Polly teased me, and I tensed before remembering myself and forcing a smile and a laugh.

"Sorry Pol, it's been a long day," I apologised, realising she'd picked up on my bizarre response to her joke, and after a moment she smiled sympathetically.

"Hey, it's okay. You've had a lot to deal with. I'll finish this off. You should go to bed."

I wanted to accept her offer. So badly. But I couldn't. I was Head Girl and I had responsibilities. Sleep was a luxury, not a necessity. I couldn't help but think that Polly would rather I'd left her to it however, as I couldn't have been anything but a hindrance. Finally, _finally _we were finished and I lay back on my bed, staring sightlessly at the ceiling in a daze of tiredness, falling quickly into a deep and dreamless sleep.

The morning brought another gruelling trip to the hospital and I sat in the same chair again, for as long as the nurse would allow us, Andrea's closest emo friends silently moved around me, somehow managing to look more upset than they usually did. Inactivity usually made me crazy, but somehow it seemed fitting as I sat as still as my friend lay. At least my thoughts were distracted from those of Flash. I applied myself to creating a not-too-serious lecture about being safe when drinking for the girls when I got back. For when Andrea was okay again and this whole horrible business was over.

For all my positivity, Andrea still lay motionless when we were thrown out for the second time, and my hope was wavering a little, despite the smile I greeted the Twins with when we got back.

"Aunty wanted you," Annabelle informed me as I passed her on the way to my room and I nodded, unable to muster a smile for her as well.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, and I shrugged, allowing her to hug me.

"I won't be okay until Andrea is," I said into her neck, trying to pull myself together and stop my voice from sounding so damn pathetic. "I'm just worried about her. I'll be fine."

"You don't have to go to the hospital tomorrow if you don't want," Belle offered, "I'll go instead. I don't mind."

I pulled away from her, shaking my head. "I have to go. I'm Head Girl. If it looks like I've given up on Andrea, everyone else will as well." Annabelle nodded, understanding. I loved her for that. "I'd better go find your Aunt," I finished, giving her hand a squeeze before turning away. "Thanks for the concern."

"Any time."

Sighing, I carried on away from my room and down to Miss Fritton's office, my heart heavy. I hated the feeling of uselessness that I had to stand all day, sat in a hospital watching Andrea unconscious. This was one problem that we couldn't sort out alone. _She will wake up,_ I thought fiercely to myself, _she has to. _My hand wandered to my cheek to brush away tears that weren't there and I composed myself before knocking on the old wooden door to the Headmistresses office.

"Come in, Kelly," she called, although there was no way she could have known it was me, and I obeyed, sitting down on her cushiony sofa without invitation.

"No change, then." It wasn't a question, but I shook my head anyway, feeling useless once again.

"There's nothing you can do to change it, you know, girlie," she told me sternly.

"I'm trying to pull myself together," I replied to the undertones rather than the statement. "I just feel that I should have been about to stop it from happening. I'm normally about at parties to stop things like this."

"But your commitments led you elsewhere."

Again, not a question. I rolled my eyes. Miss Fritton was a lot more perceptive than anyone would believe. I didn't know if she knew about me and Flash, or if she was just trying to act like she did. It was rare that something occurred within the school that never got back to her, one way or another.

"I have no other commitments, Miss Fritton," I replied quietly, meeting her eye calmly. She studied me for a few seconds, giving off the distinct impression that she _did _know exactly what other commitments I had, and I was about to say something else to break the silence when she spoke.

"Well, girlie, everyone makes mistakes, even if this one wasn't strictly your fault. A Head Girl has the right to relax and have fun now and again." I narrowed my eyes at her. _She must know. _"If I were you, I'd be keeping the girl's morale up. Flash was here earlier, I think he's willing to pay the higher price for that vodka. That should cheer everyone up."

"Is he still here?" I blurted out, before I could stop myself. She raised an eyebrow but did not comment.

"He's in the cellar with Polly, sorting out some finance stuff."

I nodded imperceptibly, kicking myself for asking the question. "Thanks, Miss. I'd better, er, get going."

She dismissed me with a nod and a wave and I left, stomach fluttered in a feeling that was something like nerves but not quite as I wondered whether to go find Flash or whether to let him come and find me. _He probably won't come and find you, _I thought, and then I realised that that was the problem.

When I found myself at the top of the steps to the cellar, I was hardly surprised. Flash noticed me the second I started to descend, standing up from where he had been sat with Polly, thrusting a wad of cash across the table at her, and straightened his waistcoat nervously as I approached. I smiled slowly.

"Hello, Flash," I greeted him as we met in the centre of the room, and my eyes flickered from his to a gaggle of Second Years that were shifting boxes around the cellar. "Jog on, girls."

When the room was empty I allowed my attention to wander back to Flash again, who was waiting patiently. There was a moment of silence-_awkward silence? _ Then he cleared his throat, appearing to be psyching himself up for whatever was coming next.

"I think we need to talk, Kel."


	4. Chapter 4

I laid in bed with my head on his chest, timing my breathing so that it matched his, trying to fight the wave of panic that kept threatening to wash over me. Already my guilt was upon me, that I had given in. Again. What could have happened in the few hours I wasn't keeping watch over the school?

Talk he had said. And talked we had, for the whole thirty seconds we could keep our hands off each other.

"_The other night Kel, I'm sorry-," _

_  
"It was a mistake?" I cut across him brusquely, trying to make the utterance a statement rather than question, preparing myself for the answer I knew I was going to hear._

"Blimey Kel, a mistake? Kel, that night was the best night of my life. I know-I know what it was for you. A drunken shag, nothin' more, I've accepted that, Kel. I'm over it. But if you reckon it was a mistake for me too, then you're bloody wrong." 

It was at that point that I decided I could no longer communicate in words alone.

And a few hours later, here I was in bed with him again, sleepless and overridden by guilt. The clock by the side of my bed turned 2am just as I glanced over at it and I wondered if I would ever get to sleep tonight.

Restlessly, I wriggled out of Flash's arms, unable to stay there whilst in such a state of flux. Wandering through to my en suite, I clicked the light on and gazed at myself in the mirror, absent-mindedly running a hand through my dishevelled hair.

I had liked Flash for as long as I could remember, even from when I'd been too young to fully appreciate what my feelings meant, and now I had what I'd always wanted. So why could I not get past these feelings of guilt every time I remembered the others?

I sank to a sitting position on the cold, tiled floor, fumbling in the cabinet under the sink for the bottle of whiskey that resided there for emergencies such as this. The first three bitter mouthfuls were barely in my system when Flash tentatively pushed the door open, his face a picture of care and concern that immediately doubled my guilt.

"Kel-," he began, and broke off, coming to sit next to me and wrapping a protective arm around me. "Kel, what are you doin' in here? An' why are you drinking that crap? What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep," I mumbled into his shoulder, wishing I hadn't had any whiskey.

"There's no need to get rat-arsed because you can't sleep, Kel. What's wrong?" I heard the first glimmerings of doubt in his voice, and it caused me physical pain, that he didn't believe that he was all I wanted.

I shrugged half-heartedly, offering him the whiskey which he accepted with a heavy sigh. I wanted to open my mouth and explain to him that he hadn't done anything wrong, that his presence here was exactly what I needed, but the words wouldn't come, and when he passed me the bottle back, I just took another large swig, trying to suppress my wince.

Flash got to his feet, and I looked up at him, my heart suddenly beating at double speed with fear that he was leaving.

"Where are you going?" I could tell the urgency in my voice reassured him somewhat and he tenderly held out a hand to me.

"Come with me, Kel. I'll show you a place where I go when I can't sleep."

I tried to raise an eyebrow at him, desperately trying to find the self-assured Head Girl who seemed to have signed off recently, but he just smiled and grabbed my other hand, pulling me to my feet and out of my room.

"Flash, I don't even have any shoes on!" I whispered as I locked the door behind me, then promptly had to suppress a squeal as he grabbed me around the waist and under my knees, swinging me up into his arms.

"Flash! Put me down!" I whispered indignantly as I was carried through the halls of the school, accompanied by his soft chuckles at my futile attempts to break free of his grasp. He took me down to the cellars and out to the garages, where his newest ride waited patiently, freshly painted.

After depositing me in the passenger seat, he walked round to the driver's seat and brought the engine to life. I shivered slightly, crossing my bare legs. Flash's shirt was not protecting me from the cold of the night. He noticed and gestured to the back seat.

"My jacket's back there, Kel."

I reached back and located it, draping it around my shoulders and snuggling into the smell of him and leather. We drove for what seemed like hours but could only have been minutes, both of us singing along absent-mindedly to the radio and making eye contact occasionally, smirking at each other's lack of tune. I asked Flash where we were going, but he just shook his head and smiled, so I closed my mouth, unwilling to ask twice.

I was almost dropping off when the cessation of the engine jumped me awake, and I looked around eagerly, but the night was black all around us and I couldn't see anything.

"Flash, where _are _we?" I asked as I got out of the car, feeling grass, cold but thankfully dry beneath my feet.

"My Dad used to work here, tending the gardens," he replied, taking my hand and leading my forward a few steps.

My mouth fell open. Stretching away before us was a lake, as smooth as glass, with the moon reflecting off it leaving a trail of light along the length of it. It was beautiful, nothing like the murky depths of the lake near St. Trinian's at all. Tall trees lined the lake, their leaves reflected on the surface as well, giving the impression of one huge mirror set in the ground.

"Flash...it's beautiful," I managed after a while, and the joy in his face made my stomach flutter. We sat side by side on the banks, both gazing at the moon.

"I guess I'm just worried about Andrea," I told Flash eventually, unprompted, feeling like I owed him an explanation for my behaviour earlier.

"You don't have to worry for the whole school, Kel," he told me, rubbing my shoulder, and turning to face me. "They can look after themselves for five minutes without you being there for them."

"That's what I thought. But look what happened last time I took my eye off them for five minutes."

Flash kissed me on the lips, and I blinked, trying to remember what our conversation had been about.

"You don't have to be responsible for everyone, Kelly Jones. Try being responsible for yourself for once."

By this time I was barely paying attention to what his lips were saying, more that I desperately, desperately wanted to kiss them, and then I was, and nothing else existed apart from me and him and the warmth we were creating.

Afterwards, as the sun was rising, I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember was him lifting me out of his car and back up to my room, back into the comfort of my bed and his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Sorry it's short again, I seem to have lost the ability write substantial amounts! Reviews make me grin :D xx_

* * *

"Kelly?"

"Huh?" I jumped and looked at Annabelle quickly, aware I'd been day dreaming. We were sat in what could not quite pass for a French lesson, and I was far too preoccupied with troubles of Flash and Andrea to work on my _grammaire. _

"I said, are you going to go to the hospital again today?"

I sighed, unable to answer her question. In truth, it seemed like I could well be getting in the taxi and going down to the hospital for the next six months or so. Every day when I looked down on Andrea's pale face, I saw no change; no spark of the life that I knew must be in there somewhere. And despite what I told the girls, the Doctors were becoming less and less optimistic.

"I don't know. I might give them a ring and see what's going on. And if any of the emos want to go then of course I'll accompany them."

Life had returned to some semblance of normal recently, as normal as it could be with one of my friends in hospital and another of them sharing my bed every night. The school seemed to be operating around Andrea's absence, the gap she had left being filled by others.

"I'll come with you if you want." Annabelle was bringing me back into the present again and I smiled at her gratefully.

"Thanks, Belle. You're amazing."

The rustle of closing books and bags being unzipped told me that the end of the lesson must be seconds away, and as I shut my textbook the bell started to ring, causing an uproar of chattering and laughter from the rest of the girls. As we left the class, Annabelle was accosted by two of the Posh Totty, leaving me striding down the corridors alone.

"Oi!"

I looked around to see where the whisper had come from amidst the chatter. Unable to see anyone who looked like they'd just called me, I carried on walking, before my wrist was grabbed roughly and I was dragged into a classroom off the corridor.

I opened my mouth to berate whoever had dared to treat their esteemed Head Girl in such a manner, when Taylor put her hand over my mouth and marched me to a chair, pushing me none too gently down into it.

"What the hell?" I managed to bite out from behind her hand, and she finally let go of me, her face a mask of anger.

"Taylor- what's going on?" I spat again, giving her my best glare and trying to get some of my authority back.

"You're screwin' Flash, aren't you?" she hissed at me, apparently as angry as I was. I drew in a sharp breath of air before I could stop myself, and our eyes met for a long second across the classroom.

"Who I may or may not be screwing is none of your business, Taylor," I replied eventually, trying to inject as much venom into my words as possible. She averted her eyes, finally, and I felt a small measure of control come back to the situation.

"I saw him, Kel. I saw him leaving your room this morning," she continued, the anger still barely concealed beneath her perfectly made up face. "What are you doing with him?"

"Why is it important?" I shot back, realising for the first time that my heart was racing. Taylor had _scared _me?

"It's important, because now I know where you were the night of the party. The night Andrea-," Taylor broke off and I cast my eyes downwards as well, feeling my cheeks flush slightly.

"What are you gonna do, Tay?" I asked quietly, sarcastically. "Tell the others that the reason their Head Girl wasn't around was because she was screwing the spiv? That she wasn't there for Andrea when she was needed? Are you _really _going to cause that kind of unrest?"

Taylor looked up at me again and I knew my words had worked. She wasn't going to tell. I released a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

"I'm not going to tell the others," Taylor said eventually. "But it's a bit...weird for the Head Girl to be having this sort of thing. Wouldn't look too good if it all came out, would it?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but she held her hand up and continued. "I don't trust Flash, Kel. I don't trust 'im and I don't think you should either. I don't know why, like, I just got a feeling. Okay?"

"Thanks for your concern, Taylor, but I think I'm capable of making my own decisions about who is trustworthy and who isn't, don't you think?"

Taylor didn't reply, but shrugged and stood up off the desk she had been sitting on, straightening her skirt and striding out of the room without a backward look at me. I sat where I was for a few seconds, regaining my composure. Shit.

Instead of heading to the lunch hall where I didn't think I could face being exposed to more of Taylor's glares, I went back to my room and sat on my bed, throwing a wad of finance sheets on the floor. Me and Polly could not make them add up. _As if I need anything else to worry about. _

Taylor knew. Taylor knew about me and Flash. She had discovered it because I hadn't been subtle enough, and I didn't trust her not to tell the others, no matter what she said. If the rest of the school knew what I was doing...I couldn't imagine the reactions. Flash was connected to the school by business alone, and it was dangerous to have a relationship with him in a larger capacity than that. I'd always known this.

I flopped down into a lying position, rolling onto my back and pressing the palms of my hands to my eyes, beyond caring what it would do to my makeup. I needed to avoid Flash now, for as long as possible. Concentrate on the finances and Andrea. God, I was worried about Andrea.

As I had that thought, my phone vibrated from where it lay next to me on the bed. I reached out a hand to grasp it and answered without checking who it was.

"Kelly!" I recognised Annabelle's clipped tones instantly and sat up on my bed, leaning over to look in the full length mirror on the back of the door and absent-mindedly wiped my smudged makeup from around my eyes.

"'Sup, Belle?"

"Aunty just got a call from the hospital! Andrea's woken up!"


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I'm terrible at updating! At least it's a bit longer this time :) Thank you for all the reviews & story alerts etc. :)) please keep onn! _

* * *

The now-familiar taxi drive to the hospital had never taken so long, Annabelle on one side of me, her face a mask of grim determination, and Taylor on the other side, trying to make me take notice of the dirty looks she kept shooting me. I pointedly ignored them and stared out of the front windscreen, willing the traffic in front of us to clear.

When we spilled out of the taxi, a cluster of emos close behind us from a second car, we didn't even stop at the reception desk. The timid girl that I had come to know quite well over the last few days sat back in her seat helplessly and half-gestured at us to quieten down. I knew better than to try and calm down a group of St. Trinian's when something like this was going on.

"Andrea!" I was the first to reach the bed in Ward 47 where I knew my friend lay, and I immediately enveloped her in a huge hug, letting my demeanour go for a few seconds. When the nurse came fussing over to us however, I backed off obediently, sitting down and grasping a pale hand instead, not wanting to cease the physical contact I had with my friend.

After the initial rush of exclamations and hugs and kisses, we all sat around her, looking expectantly at her like she was about to do some sort of performance. She looked, well, ill. She seemed to have lost even more colour since waking up and stared at us with wide, overwhelmed eyes.

"Didn't I tell you she'd be alright, girls?" I asked, grinning around at them all and feeling a glow of happiness at the grins I was getting in return. "Now you've all seen she's fine, how about we let her get a bit of peace and quiet, hey?"

I produced a wad of notes from my skirt pocket and handed it to Belle. "Why don't you guys go get a celebratory drink or something? There's a very nice bar round the corner from what I hear."

It was a poorly put together ruse to brush them off, but none of them seemed too unhappy to leave me and Andrea to it. The bar round the corner was a rock cafe I knew, and I smirked briefly at the thought of Belle bopping her head uncomfortably to loud metal beats. As the rest filed out of the ward, leaving a murmur of surprise behind them in the other patients, Taylor remained seated next to me, a look of resolve on her face that suggested she wasn't going anywhere in a hurry. I caught her eye and looked at her sternly, implying silently that I was going to be having words with her later about her attitude. Which I fully meant to.

"Rea, are you okay?" I asked as soon as the ward was quiet again. She smiled wanly, and squeezed my hand on the bed where our fingers were still interlocked.

"I'm okay, Kel. I feel like I've run a marathon though. Every part of me hurts."

"Hangover from hell, ey?" Taylor put in, smiling as well. For a moment I felt a rush of kinship with them both, two of my oldest St. Trinians friends, but as Taylor turned towards me her smile froze on her lips and I remembered that we were mad at each other and my heart sank.

"What happened? Do you remember?" I asked eagerly, desperate to hear that it wasn't my fault, but I stopped short as soon as I saw what my question did to Andrea. The small smile that we'd evoked disappeared and she looked away, apparently unable to meet our eyes.

"I-I can't remember," she stuttered finally. "I must have been too drunk to remember, I just remember being outside, out the front, and then, I've woken up here."

_She's lying, _I thought, and squeezed her hand again, wondering what she could possibly have to hide. _Taylor must have picked up on that as well._

"It doesn't matter," I said out loud, "As long as you're awake and on the mend. That's all that's important, Rea. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to get better. You can always catch up with your work."

This got a smile. "What work?" she snorted, and I smiled back encouragingly.

"Andrea, you're awake!" I turned round, trying to ignore the flip my stomach did at the voice that had spoken behind me, and tried to temper my grin down to a smirk.

"Hey," I greeted Flash. "Good timing."

"Flash," Taylor acknowledged him, her voice tight and her manner brusque. I shot a disapproving look in her direction, not supposing it was going to do any good.

"Are you okay, Andrea?" he asked, ignoring Taylor's icy greeting and sitting down next to me. His voice was full of care and concern. As I turned back round to the bed, a crash made me jump and I realised Andrea had knocked a glass of water off her bedside table.

"Sorry! Sorry," she began apologising immediately as the nurse rushed over to clear it up and make scolding noises, and I took hold of her hand again in sympathy.

"Rea, you're freezing!" I commented, rubbing her smaller hand together in both of mine. I could feel her shaking underneath my touch.

"I-I'm okay," she stammered, her eyes suddenly wide in her pale face.

"I think we've all had enough excitement for one day," the nurse commented pointedly, standing up to stare at us menacingly, dustpan full of broken glass still in her hand.

"Ok, ok," I conceded. "We'd better go, Rea. You look knackered."

"We're gonna come an' see you every day though, Rea," Taylor promised, looking as sincere as I'd ever seen her. "I swear down."

Me and Taylor stood up and made our way towards the stairs, waiting out in the corridor for Flash as he muttered a few words of his own to Andrea.

"The girls are going to be so happy when I tell them," I commented as we exited the hospital together, more to break the frosty silence that Taylor was maintaining more than anything else. I couldn't believe the lack of support I was getting from the one person I thought I could always count on, and I'd nearly had enough of it.

"Bloody over the moon, I'm sure," she muttered back sulkily, and I caught the puzzled glance that Flash shot her, to my dismay.

"Taylor, I am sure it has been a long and stressful week for you but we all care about what happens to Andrea and there is definitely no excuse to be moody," I snapped finally, rounding on her in anger. We were outside the hospital in the mid-afternoon sunshine now and we all stopped walking as Taylor looked up at me and I saw daring in her eyes, wondering how far she could push me.

_She wouldn't. _She couldn't tell Flash that she knew about us, not like this. _She might. _I saw no way out of the situation that ended in Taylor not starting on Flash. I had to back down. We stared at each other, her expression growing cockier by the second as she read my face. Should I call her bluff? Would she really show such indiscretion and argue with me about Flash in front of him?

"Let's just go home," I murmured, after a long moment's silence, getting my phone out to call a cab.

"Hey, Kel, don't worry, I'll give you a lift," Flash jumped in, putting a hand on my arm to stop me and removing it swiftly as we both tried to ignore the almost electric tension that jumped between us at the contact.

I accepted without fight, suddenly sick of everything and fervently wishing that I could just have some time alone with him. I let Taylor ride shotgun. It seemed mean not to, after everything that we both knew.

We pulled up at St. Trinians and Taylor almost leapt out of the car, stalking towards the entrance. Flash turned round to look at me, and I gave him a small smile.

"I'm sorry about her. Thank you for being here. I really appreciate it."

He smiled back at me and my stomach gave that familiar roll that I was used to experiencing whenever he gave me attention. Pathetic, I know.

"Hey, don't worry about it Kel. Anything for you." He was so earnest that I looked down and smiled, flattered.

There was a moment's silence, then I looked up coyly, flipping my hair out of my face. "Flash...," I started, and he looked at me inquisitively. "Shoot me down in flames if you think it's a bad idea...but, wanna go try that new Italian place in town on Friday night?"

His grin widened and I felt my smile get bigger as well.

"Well, I haven't got anything else better to do I suppose," he replied teasingly, and I showed him my middle finger.

"I'll give you something to do you massive idiot," I retorted, opening the car door to leave.

"Pick you up at seven."

"Deal."

I had to physically remove the massive soppy smile from my face as I entered the darkened hallways of St. Trinians, remembering that there was still a lot of business needed to sort out here. Not least why Andrea had gotten so defensive when we'd asked her what was wrong, Taylor's attitude and not to mention those damn finances that me and Polly were _still _struggling with.

Sighing I made my way to the dorm where I knew Taylor would have retreated to. I needed to get this sorted, now.

"Can't you just leave me be for five minutes? Jesus!"

I ignored the hostile words as I strode into the messy room, stepping over piles of clothes and other junk belonging to the girls almost automatically. It was empty; the majority of the girls had made their way to the hospital and those left behind would be in their last classes of the day.

Taylor was sat on her unmade bed, mirror in one hand and mascara in the other. As I sat on the bed opposite, she didn't even acknowledge me, just stared even more intently at her reflection in the glass. I didn't say anything for a long while, trying to decide how much authority I should go at this with. Taylor was my friend, and I didn't want to scold her like she was a first year, or even like she was lower down in the school. We were the same age. We had always been incredibly close, and I'd never had problems like this with her before. But then, this time last week I'd never screwed Flash or known what it felt like to have a friend almost die, either.

"Taylor..."

My voice was gentle, chiding. Not patronising, I hoped.

"I don't wanna fight about this, Kel," she said, still not meeting my eye, and I could tell she was trying her hardest to be civil. "But I don't like 'im, and I don't like you bein' with 'im."

"Tay, I'm not even sure if I _am _with him," I told her, suddenly feeling a flood of relief at being able to talk to someone about it. "We just had this thing....twice now, and I was sure it was just going to be about the sex, but it's not, now, we're going on a date on Friday and I like him, I know that, I do, but I have commitments to you guys. And I'm not sure I can allow myself to have a relationship with him."

Taylor didn't answer for a very long time, and I felt my relief at having someone to talk to melt away.

"You don't know 'im, Kel. You just don't know who he is or where he's been. I seen people like that before. They come across all nice an' charming, an' they're nothin' like you think. I promise ya Kel, he's trouble."

She met my eyes finally and held my gaze, looking defiant, proud, and exceedingly calm. This disturbed me more than her ranting and raving.

"You're allowed your opinion, Taylor, and I'm allowed mine. For the sake of our friendship, I don't think we should speak of this again," I said eventually, keeping my tone as reasonable as I could, my heart in my throat. Grudgingly, she nodded acquiescence and I let out a silent breath that I'd been holding.

"For the sake of our friendship, Kel, I'll pretend like I don't know nothin'."

I reached over to her and enveloped her in a hug at that, wondering where all my emotions had come from recently and what I could do to best keep them in check.

"Why did Rea lie about what she could remember?" The question sent a wave of nerves through me again and I drew back from Taylor to look at her.

"I don't know. I just don't know. I'm sorry," I replied, running my hands through my hair. Taylor looked as if she was about to say more, but then Annabelle had burst into the dorm with a massive grin on her face followed by the rest of the girls, and I was caught up in celebrations that my heart wasn't in.

Why _did_ Rea lie? Promising myself some time to think it over later, I gave in to Annabelle's cries for a celebratory party and started organising the girls on autopilot. _Why did Rea lie? _


	7. Chapter 7

"Kel! Flash is here."

I looked up from my laptop where I was sourcing new buyers for the Emos' poppers to see one of the twins stood in my doorway, mud streaking her face and one of her blonde plaits. I smiled at her appearance.

"He says he wants to talk to you about business, and that it will probably take all evening so I'd better not interrupt you two."

The girl's lower lip stuck out slightly at this admission, and I could just imagine her hurt when Flash had told her there was no time for her tonight. I could not however, find it in myself to feel sympathy, when I knew what awaited me this evening.

"I'm sure he'll come and see you soon," I replied, neglecting to call the twin by her name. I could have guessed Tania but I didn't want to offend her by getting it wrong. "Me and Flash have got a lot to talk about."

"He's in the cellar."

The last was said bluntly and almost sulkily before the girl, _it must be Tania,_ turned and ran off. _Great, now the twins are mad at me. _I closed my laptop and stood up, grabbing my bag from the bed and slipping my feet into my heels.

"Kel, you look lovely."

I smiled shyly and kissed him on the cheek, breathing in his scent of smoke and aftershave. He chuckled quietly in the back of his throat and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me to his face for a proper kiss. After a second, I pulled away, looking around nervously.

"Not here. Any of the girls could walk in," I said, an apologetic expression on my face. An expression of annoyance chased across his face briefly but he soon covered it with a disappointed smile.

"It's okay, Kel. I get it," he replied and I smiled back at him, taking his hand.

"Do you want to drive or shall I?" I asked, and he pulled an expression of fake shock.

"Always down to business, aren't ya, Kel. Well, neither of us is driving tonight. We're splashin' out on a cab."

We exited the school through the garage. I tried to pretend to myself that it was for convenience, not for fear of being seen. As soon as we got into the back seat of the cab that Flash had pre-emptively ordered for us, his arm came snaking across the back seat towards me, clutching my hand and squeezing it tight.

I leant over and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I wan' ya to forget about everythin' tonight, Kel," Flash told me, looking at me and smiling. "Forget about all yeh duties and everythin' and just enjoy yourself. Kay?"

I nodded, feeling my face split into that stupid grin that I'd been wearing so often recently. The cab sped along the winding, dark road that separated St. Trinian's from society, and the further away we got, the more I felt able to relax.

After the food, which had been lovely, and the bottle of red wine we had shared, we sat in the bar of the restaurant holding hands. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt so relaxed and content. The worries of the school seemed a different world away and all that I could think about was Flash. His smile, his hand upon my knee, the way he smelt of aftershave and smoke and rum.

"Yeh look beautiful, Kel." He told me, and I smiled. I had brushed off everybody else who had ever told me that I looked beautiful, but Flash was looking at me like I was the only person in the world so I leaned forwards to kiss him.

My bliss lasted until we got back to the school.

I was going to invite Flash up to my room when we pulled up outside the grand entrance at St. Trinian's, but Polly and Taylor were out on the front steps and their faces were grim. I knew something bad had happened and my stomach twisted in fear. Flash had seen them too and when I turned to look at him his face was resigned.

"I should go. It's okay. I'll catch up with you tomorrow, Kel."

"I'm s-,"

"Don't be sorry. Go!"

I forgot even to kiss him goodbye, but hurried out of the car and up the steps to my friends.

"What? What's happened?" I asked them breathlessly, not actually sure if I wanted to hear the answer. The taxi was pulling away but I barely noticed.

"You'd better come with us," Polly said. The red wine had given me a headache and I felt a bit disorientated. _I shouldn't have left them. _

Polly and Taylor led me to an empty classroom that was in darkness apart from the greeny glow of Polly's laptop which had been set up at a desk.

"What's going on?" I asked again.

"You'll see." Taylor all but growled at me as Polly sat at the desk and we watched over her shoulder.

"I was just checking and filing all the bank statements and invoices from this month," Polly began, clicking away on the internet and bringing up a load of numbers. "And I noticed some things didn't add up. I investigated a bit more closely, and I found this."

She clicked onto another screen, one familiar to my eyes as our online banking account. I scanned down the transactions until I found the balance, and my mouth dropped open as I saw the amount.

"It's the same with all five accounts." Polly said grimly. "They've all been emptied."

My heart was beating rapidly in my chest, panic threatening to overcome me. Polly and Taylor were both looking at me as though they expected me to have an immediate answer.

"Do you know when this happened?" I asked eventually, closing my eyes to try and make sense of the situation. I was at a loss as to how this could have happened, and the realisation terrified me.

"The transactions have all been made over the last few days." Polly answered. "This is bad, Kel."

"I know it's bloody bad!" I snapped before I could stop myself.

Polly was looking at me like a kicked puppy, and Taylor was looking at me like she'd watched me kick the puppy. I took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, girls. This was just a bit of a shock."

Their expressions didn't change. The throbbing in my head was getting worse, and as I flicked my eyes back to the computer screen I felt a bit dizzy.

"There's nothing we can do about this now. Tomorrow we need to get to work to figure out who did this and how it happened. We need to get our money back. Go to sleep girls, and in the morning we'll put this all to rights."

The words sounded unconvincing even to myself. They followed me out of the classroom, and didn't say a word to me as I paced off to my room and they went up to the dorm. When I got to my room I sat on the bed, staring into space for long minutes, trying to figure out where everything had gone wrong over the last few weeks. _You're doing a terrible job of being head girl, _I thought.

Opening the bottom draw of my bedside cabinet, I took out a shoebox that was kept there and opened it. Inside was a bottle of vodka, and an old tattered book. It was the head girls' book that had lived in this room for as long as the Head Girl of St. Trinian's had, and it had a record of all the Head Girls that had gone before, the dates they'd served and their achievements. There was also a list of advice and tips from all the Head Girls, who had written down their knowledge built up over the years. Some of the things written were practical, such as the secret passage that led underground and off school property; some of the things were simply funny anecdotes. Mostly it was what I liked to think of as emotional advice and support though.

As one of the Head Girls had written; "It can be lonely; that's the nature of being the head of the pack. Remember it's supposed to feel like this though." Another line in scrawling handwriting read: "If you want to lead you have to act like you know the way."

I opened the vodka and flicked through the book. There was no precedent for the school being scammed though. _What do we do when we haven't got a penny to our name? _

Another quote caught my attention. "Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it."

I took another sip of the vodka, my mind whirring. I still couldn't quite comprehend that the small fortune that I and the other Head Girls had raised over the years was suddenly gone. _How? _The vodka burnt the back of my throat. _Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. _

Tomorrow I would have to tell the girls. There was no way I could keep them in the dark about something like this. But I couldn't present them with a problem without giving them a solution, or at least the start of one. _Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. _

I stood up suddenly and left my room, bringing the bottle with me but leaving the book. I thought I might have woken Miss Fritton up, but she was sat in her office with the lights on, a glass of sherry in her hand and a book on her knee.

"Good evening, girlie." She greeted me. "Did you have a nice time on your date?"

I felt myself flush and took a sip of the vodka. "It wasn't worth the aftertaste," I replied eventually, and she smiled knowingly.

"What do you really want to talk about, Kelly?"

I took a seat uninvited on the squashy sofa, and fixed Miss Fritton with a piercing look.

"You already know, don't you?"

"Of course. I'm just interested to know what you're going to do about it."

Irritation flared up in me again. Miss Fritton had a smirk on her face that suggested she thought this whole thing was a joke. _Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. _I took a deep breath, another sip of vodka, and got my feelings under control.

"Polly told me she'd already rung the bank and blocked all the accounts." I began. "I guess we should send someone to the bank tomorrow to deal with it-,"

"And who are you going to send?" Miss Fritton asked, her eyes bright and testing. I took a swig of vodka whilst I thought about it. Our account manager was a timid young man who looked a bit like a squirrel with large front teeth.

"Well, it would make sense to send one of the geeks, but sending Chelsea with them might be an idea. Keith will be so flustered he will be easily persuaded to let us check things out rather than him."

I was painfully aware that if we made too much of a fuss about this it could lead to an investigation which wouldn't necessarily come off well for the school. It would be best to keep this as quiet as possible.

"Even if Keith does realise something he shouldn't, between Chelsea's charm and the fact that he could easily come down with us if he tells anyone, we should be safe."

Miss Fritton nodded. "Very prudent, Kelly. And what about finding out who did this to us?"

"The geeks again." I replied. "Until we know more about the transactions, when exactly they were made and how, then we can't really hope to find who did it."

"And how are we going to make up for the money in the mean time?"

I thought about the question. We owed money to some car part dealers and various other suppliers, but the biggest sum we owed was undeniably to Flash. The monthly supply of various things from the black market came from him, and we usually paid him on the last day of the month. Which was next week.

"I can talk to Flash, and-,"

"No."

Miss Fritton seldom sounded strict, but within that one word were undertones of disapproval and reproach.

"You can't use personal relationships to get off the hook. It's not becoming for young ladies. I expect you to find the money by next week."

It was these words that haunted me as I lay in bed alone, already regretting the red wine and the vodka and wishing that it wasn't me responsible for all this. _How are we going to get the money? Who has hacked into our accounts, and how? _The geeks had the best security systems in place; they had assured me it was basically impossible to hack into our accounts. Yet someone had. _And why us? Why a school? _Sleep didn't come easily and when it did I dreamt of Andrea and Flash, the look Taylor gave me when she found out, Polly telling me that all our money had gone. _Who has hacked into our accounts?_


	8. Chapter 8

The day was grey and cold, to mirror my mood, and a thick whiteish mist hung low over the school. The air was heavy with moisture, which had sent Chelsea into a fit of great proportions when I informed her she would have to go out to the bank in it. She had been bleating about what it was going to do to her hair and I had to all but physically push her out of the front doors to join the squad of two geeks that I had chosen to go to the bank.

Now I was safely back inside, heading towards the computer labs where the geeks were trying to figure out what had happened. My head was pounding with every step I took, but no one would know; I had applied my makeup carefully as always, my hair was sleek and tidy, my heels as high as ever and my pencil skirt as tight and unforgiving. I couldn't let anyone know that I was on the verge of losing it inside. Or suffering from an awful hangover.

As I walked into the computer labs, a few of the geeks looked up and greeted me but more of them stayed engrossed in the screens in front of them. The room was silent apart from the whir of the computers, and the air was warm and cloying. I was sure some of them had been up since the early hours of the morning focussing on this. An empty mug stood by the side of every computer, and a skinny first year was walking round with a tray and a pot of coffee, doling it out.

"Polly, can I have a word outside please?" I asked mildly, and she looked up from her screen with an unreadable expression on her face. This wasn't going to be easy.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you yesterday," I began as we stood in the corridor. "I was, well, I was a bit drunk and also completely shocked at the news, and I wasn't thinking properly. So I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh."

Polly looked at me as if she hadn't heard my apology. "You know why we're finding it so difficult to discover how this happened?" she asked.

"Why?"

"We weren't hacked, as such. The transactions were made by card. The bank wouldn't have even flagged it up as unusual activity."

"By card?" The feeling of helplessness that had threatened to overcome me last night returned.

"By card." Polly confirmed. Her tone still wasn't exactly friendly, but today I had resolved to act the leader again, so I ignored that for now and thought about what Polly had said.

_Someone's taken the cards? That's impossible. We barely use them and they're locked up in Miss Fritton's office… _

"Have you got your key?" I asked Polly.

"Yes, it's here." She drew it out of a pocket in her skirt and I immediately felt for mine which was kept in a pocket sewn onto the inside of my shirt. The metal was warm from being pressed against my skin and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"There are five keys. Whoever did this would need all of them to access our cards; they can't have taken them."

The safe in Miss Fritton's office contained all the important documentation and information that was vital for the running of St Trinian's. If any of the information inside the safe got into the wrong hands we could be in big trouble, which is why it was so securely kept. To get inside, all five keys were needed. The Head Girl always had a key as well as the Head Mistress. The other three were distributed amongst the girls. I had allocated the keys to Polly, Chelsea and Andrea.

"Or someone has cloned the cards." Polly replied.

"We're going to have to wait until Chelsea gets back from the bank before we can check. Either way someone would have to have had access to the safe to get our details." I said thoughtfully. "But I'm sure the cards will be there. If someone had broken into the safe we would definitely know about it."

Polly didn't look so convinced, but nevertheless she just shrugged and returned to the computer labs as if it wasn't her problem. Annabelle was the next person I went to find. She was with the Posh Totty in their boudoir, as I'd expected she would be. Although I didn't think they would ever convince her to have a go on the chat lines, the Posh Totty had taken Annabelle under their wing somewhat and were constantly with her, gossiping and doing her makeup. Despite this, I counted her amongst my closest and most trusted friends. Since the heist she had been steadily growing in confidence and became more a St. Trinian every day.

Peaches and Chloe were lounging in their underwear when I entered; Peaches on the phone to someone and twisting a lock of hair around her finger. Chloe was curling Annabelle's hair and both of them were giggling at Peaches' phone call.

"Oh yes, I've been _very _naughty today." Peaches was drawling. I rolled my eyes and gestured for Annabelle to come with me. The two of us had taken to going to see Andrea together, and despite the problems we were having, I couldn't just desert the hospitalised emo. Yesterday she had said that she was hoping to be able to come home on Monday, two days away. The giggles of the Posh Totty followed us down the hallway.

"Don't you get sick of listening to their drivel?" I asked her as we walked together.

"They're a laugh." Annabelle said, a bit defensively. "And who else am I supposed to hang out with?"

I wondered if that was supposed to be a dig; before the whole thing with Flash and Andrea's accident, and the money, me and Annabelle used to hang out quite a lot. The last thing I needed was to add her to the list of people who were mad at me. _You're overthinking this. _

When we reached the hospital, Andrea was sat up in bed as usual, looking as bored as sin. I smiled as I always did when I saw her and between us me and Belle tried to give an upbeat account of what was going on at the school, leaving out the state of crisis we'd found ourselves in.

"So you're still coming home on Monday?" I asked. Andrea nodded, looking actually happy for once.

"Yes. 2 days, and the doctor says I can be out of here. I can't wait."

"Have you remembered anything more about what happened?" Annabelle slipped in. We had been trying to ask Andrea about it now and then, hoping to get something out of her. "I mean, do you remember why you were by the lake in the first place?"

Andrea went pale and quiet, as she always did when we brought it up. By now Belle was also convinced that she was lying about what she remembered, but we had yet to convince her to open up to us.

"N-no, I don't remember anything." She said falteringly. "I just remember being at the party, really drunk, and then everything is blurry. Next thing I remember is waking up in hospital."

I studied her. She was so skinny now, even more than she had been before, and her eyes were huge and scared-looking. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that Andrea was keeping something back from us because she was scared. I was terrified of pushing her too far though. I caught Annabelle's eye and knew it was time to back off.

"Ah well, maybe you'll remember something in time." I said lightly, to take the pressure off her. "Anyway – we should be going, we've got a lot to sort out today. We'll come again tomorrow, though and the day after that we'll be taking you home with us!"

We got up to go, and were just leaving the room when I remembered something.

"Oh, Andrea. Can I have your key for the safe please?"

At my question, Andrea's face dropped. She twisted a frail hand in her duvet and looked down, avoiding my eyes.

"Andrea – what's wrong?"

"I-I think I've lost it."

"What?"

She was visibly shaking and looked on the verge of tears so I tried to get my anger under control. As I re-entered the room Annabelle pinched the back of my arm. "Go easy." She muttered under her breath. I rolled my eyes.

"Andrea, how did you lose it?" I asked gently, sitting back down in the chair next to her bed.

"I'm sorry Kelly," she sobbed.

"Hey, hey, come on, no tears. It's okay," I soothed, circling an arm around her shoulders. "You don't need to be upset."

"I l-lost it a few weeks ago. I'm so sorry, Kel. I should have told you but I was too scared. I thought maybe no one would notice, at least until the end of term." Tears ran down Andrea's pale cheek. She looked terrified.

"That's ok, you don't need to be scared Andrea," I said soothingly. _That's another lie, _I thought.

"Where were you when you lost it? In the school, or outside?"

"I d-don't know. I just checked one day and it had gone."

"And when did you notice it had gone?"

"M-maybe three weeks ago? I'm s-so sorry, Kel." Andrea was sniffling now, looking like she'd calmed down a bit. I smiled gently at her.

"It's ok. Don't be sorry. We all make mistakes. Listen – I need you to tell me truthfully Andrea. Is the key something to do with your accident?"

There was a long silence while my question sat heavily in the air. I could feel the tension building.

"…No." Andrea replied eventually. "No, it was already lost."

I exhaled. "Okay, Rea. Thank-you for owning up. Please don't worry about anything, we'll sort it out. We have to go now, but we'll be back this time tomorrow okay?"

I had brought my car to the hospital today, a silver convertible mini, and as soon as we got back into the car I turned to look at Annabelle.

"What do you make of that then?" I wanted to hear Annabelle's views first; to be sure I wasn't becoming overly paranoid.

"She was lying about the key." Annabelle said immediately, her face grim. "I'm sure it must have happened when she had her accident, but she's terrified of telling us for some reason."

I nodded. "That's exactly what I think. But why is she so scared? What can she possibly be scared of?"

Annabelle shook her head. "I don't know, Kel. This is a mess. How are we going to get into the safe to check if the cards are still there?"

Possibilities ran through my head, each more ridiculous than the last. Truthfully, I had no idea. I could feel tears of frustration welling up behind my eyes, and hastily blinked them away. To distract myself I turned the key in the ignition and started up the engine, pulling out of the parking lot.

When we returned to the school, more problems without solutions presented themselves. Our account manager had told Chelsea where the transactions had taken place, but that was no help at all. Five different days and times, on five different continents, with no pattern to them at all. The only good news was that Chelsea was still in possession of her key.

"It must have been done by different people," An unfriendly Polly was telling me as I looked at the sheet of notes Chelsea had presented me with. "There's no way one person could have done this."

"This makes the duplicate card theory more likely, right?" I asked her. "One person stole the details and passed it on to others."

Polly chewed her lip. "Yes, I suppose so. Still, if someone had gotten into the safe they might as well have stolen the cards anyway. It wouldn't make any sense to have had access to them and then leave them."

"Go find Tara and Tania." I told her. "Get them to find a way to get into the safe that won't damage anything inside it."

Even though I hadn't made any sort of formal announcement to the girls, undoubtedly everyone in the school knew about what was going on, and this became evident to me as I walked the corridors. The dining hall was full and much quieter than normal, as was the common room and when I looked out of a window, even the first year's tree house out in the gardens was strangely quiet, despite the girls coming and going constantly. I hadn't been in that tree house since I was a first year, and had no desire to return. From my memories it was loud and messy, and the pranks pulled there were worse than in any other part of the school. At the moment though, everyone seemed subdued.

I realised with a jolt that I had never explained to Flash my sudden exit last night, and a pang of guilt hit me. At the same time, I had the sad realisation that my relationship was going to have to take a back seat; Taylor and Polly were mad at me already, and if any of the others got wind of the fact that I was spending time with Flash over trying to solve the crisis, well, I would lose all the respect I'd ever had.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N - This is short because I wanted to leave it at the point where I have.. Chapters to come are back to normal length again._

* * *

"Are you happy to be home?" Annabelle asked Andrea, as we pulled up outside the main entrance to the school. The emo shrugged indifferently, and Annabelle rolled her eyes. We'd had no choice but to tell her about the crisis going on at the school as we picked her up to take her home, and that had scared her, as almost everything did these days. She was still shaking a bit, I noticed.

I carried Andrea's bag up to the dorm for her, then went to check on the progress of the geeks and the first years. Neither of them had made much progress. The first years had blown up nearly twenty metal boxes, designed to act like the safe, but they had always burnt the paper inside it to cinders.

"You need a bit more subtlety, girls!" I told them, and Tania and Tara looked at me as though they knew what the word meant, even though I was pretty sure they didn't.

"Yes, Kel." They replied solemnly, before one of their helpers pressed a button and cause a fiery purple explosion that showered bits of metal over us all. I rolled my eyes and left them to it.

The school had calmed down a bit today; despite the fact that St Trinian's was still in a state of crisis and had not a penny to its name, I had been convincing the girls slowly to return to their lessons. Some of the girls I had special jobs for – all of the geeks were occupied either trying to find out how and when our bank details had been stolen, or selling the shares that would make us some money for the time being. The posh totty had been dispatched to a poker tournament taking place in the nearby city, with the task of seducing the winners and persuading them to spend money on jewellery or watches or other things we could pawn off later. I knew Annabelle had really wanted to go with them, but I dared not let my friend leave my side. With Taylor and Polly mad at me, and Andrea a pale shade of her former self, I was losing people I could count on left right and centre.

The first years were still working on the explosive thing, and I had sent some of the chavs and the emos out to search around the lake where Andrea had been found. I was sure she must have parted ways with the key at the time of her having the accident, but whether it was lost or stolen I did not know.

I actually found ten minutes to ring Flash, but he did not answer his phone. This was a bit unusual considering he was generally available 24/7 to talk business, but I didn't think anything of it. I smiled fondly as I remembered our date on Friday evening.

I sat down to reapply my makeup. I had spent the last few weeks looking completely haggard but now it was time to regain control of my life. I brushed more dark mascara onto my eyelids and powdered my face, before a knock on the door disturbed me.

"Come in!" I called looking through my drawer for my favourite red lipstick, and Andrea appeared, looking as weak and frail as ever.

"Hey Rea," I greeted her casually, gesturing for her to come in. "How's it going? Is it good to be home?" My lipstick was nowhere to be found; I figured Belle must have borrowed it again so I closed the drawer again and concentrated on my guest.

She entered my room slowly and sat down on the bed. The sinking feeling appeared in my stomach again and I suddenly knew this wasn't going to be good news.

"What's up, Andrea?"

"I've got something to tell you Kel. I remember what happened the night of my accident."


	10. Chapter 10

Horror washed over me in waves.

"It was Flash," I breathed, my voice sounding thin and weak.

"It was Flash." Andrea confirmed gravely. The world was swimming in front of me and I could hear the blood roaring in my ears.

"What are we going to do?" Andrea asked, although I barely heard her over my inner turmoil. For what seemed like years, but could only have been seconds I was adrift on an island of fear and confusion, unable even to feel the pain of his betrayal through my incomprehension.

"Kel," Andrea repeated, "What are we going to do?"

I took a deep breath and tried to get a grip on myself. Andrea's kohl-rimmed eyes peered down at me, and I knew that for the sake of the girls I couldn't fall apart. Not yet anyway.

"You've just remembered this?" I asked her suddenly, a bit more harshly than I had meant to. "You couldn't have told me this earlier?"

Andrea looked hurt. "I- I wasn't sure. Honestly. I remembered a, a man who had pushed me but… I didn't know who. The more I have thought about it the more I became sure."

"Tell me again." My voice sounded like a strangers.

"I was drunk. Really drunk." Andrea began, and I closed my eyes, picturing the scene. "I had gone outside to get some air, and I guess I must have wandered a bit further than I'd realised because before I knew it I'd reached the lake. It was really dark and it looked really nice so I sat down on the banks just to look at it, and then I heard someone come up behind me. I turned around and saw Flash. He asked me for my key, and I obviously said no. Then he wrestled it off me and in the scuffle I blacked out. When I woke up I- I was in hospital."

Swallowing down what felt like my lunch come back to haunt me, I stood up and fixed Andrea with a business-like look.

"We're going to have a meeting. I'm going to tell everyone what happened and then I'm going to go after that lying son of a bitch and show him what happens when you cross St. Trinian's. Call the girls to the common room, Andrea."

She trotted off obediently, and I sat back down on the bed in the empty dorm room and concentrated very hard on not crying.

"How could he?" I whispered disbelievingly, to myself. My stomach had turned into a twisting pit of dread, and I still felt like this was a horrible misunderstanding that was going to be cleared up any second.

Standing up shakily, I went to my bathroom and washed my face, reapplying my makeup more severely than normal to lend me some strength. Checking myself in the full length mirror, I tried to convince myself that Kelly Jones, head girl was looking back at me. I straightened my skirt, tucked my shirt in a bit more tightly and smoothed my hair down a bit. These days it never seemed to be as sleek and shiny as it used to be.

When I reached the common room, all the girls were assembled. As soon as I walked in, a hundred pairs of eyes fixed themselves on me. I could feel the weight of their stares on my like a ton of bricks. The first years were sat cross-legged on the floor before me, with the rest of the girls stood or sat on the sofas behind them. A hundred blank expressions, and four expressions that I could have done without. Taylor; furious. Belle, accusing. Polly; pitying, and Andrea so sad that I could have wept.

Taking my place at the front of the room, I took a deep breath before breaking the deathly silence that had fallen upon the assembled group.

"Girls, I have some bad news for you all." I began. The trick with things like this was to keep it simple, so that even the first years would understand. "I have heard you all discussing the events of the past few days. I have found the person responsible for taking our money and ruining our business prospects. This will upset a lot of you, but this person has played us falsely and been extremely dishonest with us. Flash was the person who hacked into our accounts and took the money."

The silence got deeper, I could almost believe time had frozen until one of the twins let out a sob.

"I am aware that a lot of you liked Flash, thought of him as a friend. Please remember that the Flash you thought you knew was not the person that scammed us. He has lied to us on a gross scale, by gaining our trust and friendship when he didn't mean it at all. He is not the person we thought he was."

"Flash did this to us?" One of the younger geeks said forlornly.

"Yes."

I stood tall, not focussing on any one member of the crowd in front of me. I could not let my confidence waver, not even for a second. I gave them a moment, pacing in front of them with one black patent heel in front of the other.

"What are we going to do, Kel?" another voice asked. I could tell from the accent it was a chav, but I didn't catch who.

"What are we going to do?" I repeated. "Why, we are going to do what we always do. Have we ever let anyone beat St. Trinian's before?"

"…No?" a lone first year ventured, and I rolled my eyes.

"Have we _ever_ let one man, one measly little man, spoil our plans?" I asked, louder this time.

"No!" About half the assembled group this time.

"When we are knocked down, do we simply lie in the dirt and cry?"

"NO!" Everyone replied; even Taylor's lips moved, so I was willing to take that for an answer.

"We are St. Trinian's, and we are not going to let this get us down, but we are going to rise up and come back better than ever before!" They were all listening to me rapt, their distress of a few seconds ago forgotten. _If only they knew I was making this up as I go along. _

"Lessons are cancelled today." I announced. "I expect everyone to spend the day working on ways to regain some of the money. Let me worry about what's to be done about Flash. You guys concentrate on just making a bit of money each, and we _will _be able to get through this. This evening I will be looking at what you've done. Off you go, girls."

The first years stood and started to mill out, talking in a subdued manner amongst themselves. Others started to filter out, and I was on the verge of relaxing when Taylor's voice rang out above the chatter.

"'Aven't you got somethin' else to tell us, Kel?"

My heart stopped beating for a second. A flash of fury at Taylor ran through me, but I got it under control almost as soon as I felt it. Everyone was looking at me again. Thankfully some of the first years had left but the majority of the school was still stood in front of me and I knew I had to admit my mistake.

"Yes. There is more." I began, each word coming slowly and painfully. I felt a blush rise on my cheeks.

"Andrea didn't fall into the river on the night of the party. She was pushed. By Flash, in an attempt to steal her key to our safe."

Someone gasped and everyone whipped round to look at Andrea who was staring at the floor as though she was fascinated by it.

"After that, well, Flash came to me, and we spent the night together. I now believe he found me on purpose to distract me from the fact that Rea was missing."

I could feel the accusation in the looks I was getting from all the girls, and I looked at the floor.

"You have my deepest apologies, girls. I made an extremely bad judgement and if I could take it back I would."

I hated admitting this to the school. I hated being vulnerable in front of them. And I hated myself for allowing myself to really think that Flash and I were going to have a relationship.

Taylor growled an expletive into the silence that had fallen and stormed out. Most of the other chavs followed her.

I opened my mouth to speak again, unsure of what I was going to say, but another voice came from behind me.

"Run along now, girlies. We have much and more to be doing. We will reconvene again this evening. Come on, off you go!"

Miss Fritton shepherded everyone out of the room while I stood motionless, tears welling up in my eyes. I had failed as head girl. Finally everyone had gone and Miss Fritton rounded on me.

"Girlie?"

I couldn't reply. I looked at her and let out a single dry sob. I felt on the verge of collapsing, or being sick, or something.

"Not here girlie. There's cameras in these rooms, you remember."

I turned and ran away from her, tears completely blurring my vision now. I found myself in the basement heading for the garage. I felt as if I was choking on my sorrow. I was so suffocated and needed to get away from the school. Grabbing a set of car keys from the many hanging on the wall of the garage, I pressed the unlock button and a silver mini convertible answered my call. Perfect for how small I felt.


End file.
